The present invention generally relates to the viewing of medical images at several angles. More specifically, the present invention relates to defining a three-dimensional (“3D”) oblique cross-section of an anatomy at a specific angle and to modify additional angles of display simultaneously.
Current systems and methods allow for the viewing of a 3D volume of an object, such as a patient's anatomy, in one or more two-dimensional (“2D”) cross-sectional images or cross-sectional stack of images of the 3D volume. The angle of display in the 2D cross-sectional images may be manipulated by a user.
The angle of display in the 2D images may be manipulated or adjusted by rotating the image about a line (such as a control line, for example) displayed on a 2D image. In general, movement of a control line in a first 2D image can affect the angle of display of a 2D image in another, subsequently viewed 2D image. For example, current systems may display a control line over a first 2D cross-sectional image. This control line can represent a 2D image plane in which a view of the 3D image is presented in a subsequent 2D image. By moving the control line in the first 2D image, the 2D image plane (and consequently the 2D image representation of the 3D image) in the second 2D image will change when the second 2D image is viewed. Moreover, current systems permit the user to then move a control line in the second 2D image to adjust the 2D image plane of the next subsequent 2D image. The movement of a control line in one 2D image affects the angle of display or 2D image plane in all subsequent 2D images. Moreover, when a control line in a first 2D image is moved, the angles of display or image planes in all subsequent 2D images are adjusted. In other words, changing the angle of display in a first 2D image has a domino effect of changing the angle of display in all subsequent 2D images.
The movement of control lines so as to adjust angles of display in multiple 2D images is used to obtain a final 2D image that is positioned correctly according to a user's needs. By moving control lines in one or more 2D images so as to affect the angles of display or the angle of the cross-section in subsequent 2D images (including the final 2D image), a user is able to obtain a preferred angle of display in the final 2D image.
However, while current systems may display more than a single 2D image at a time, these systems typically display only a single step of the double oblique process. That is, current systems display one image with a control line, and another image with the result(s) of moving that control line. Current systems do not include multiple control lines in multiple images, thereby prohibiting the display of multiple steps of the double oblique process. Therefore, users are unable to move multiple control lines in multiple 2D images and are therefore unable to witness multiple steps of the double oblique process simultaneously.
Thus, current systems and methods do not allow the easy manipulation of the angle of display or the angle of cross-section in multiple cross-sectional images or cross-sectional stacks of images of a 3D volume in multiple viewports or displays. For example, when attempting to view a specific portion of an anatomy in a medical image in 3D Maximum Intensity Pixel (“MIP”)/Multi-Planar Reformat (“MPR”) mode, free rotation, or rotation about a single line cannot always position the desired anatomy correctly in one or more of the subsequent viewports. In other words, a user of a software application attempting to view a portion of an anatomy in a particular position may need to position the anatomical portion using multiple rotations about several lines in multiple viewports.
For example, when attempting to obtain a view through a spinal disk on a patient with scoliosis (curved spine), the user would need to complete a two-step cross-sectioning process using existing methods:                1. Prescribe a pseudo-sagittal view by defining a line along the spine on a coronal view.        2. Prescribe a view straight through the disk by defining a line on the pseudo sagittal view.        
As described above, a major drawback of the existing methods is that the user can only see one prescribed cross-sectional view at a time. This implies that while the user is looking at the final view he can no longer see the coronal view; likewise, while performing the first step the user cannot see the final view. As a result, if the user cannot obtain the view through the disk correctly, the user may need to go back to the first step to adjust the pseudo-sagittal view from the coronal image. However, the user will no longer be able to see if the adjustments made are correct on the final image. This will typically result in multiple iterations before a correct view through the disk can be obtained.
The above example shows that the existing oblique cross-sectioning methods are oftentimes time-consuming when used to obtain a view through multiple cross-sections. Therefore, a need exists for a more efficient method for obtaining a view through multiple cross-sections of an image.